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Chapter 455 - 205. Genius Kidd dances alone, Bad Boys Legion advances strongly!_4

Chapter 455: 205. Genius Kidd dances alone, Bad Boys Legion advances strongly!_4

As the second half started, Nets fans were still loudly cheering, but by the end of the third quarter, they had gradually quieted down.

The victory in G2 had rekindled hope among Nets fans. They always held expectations for Kidd; though he had only been with the team for a few short years, those years were the most glorious in the history of the Nets. Having been in New Jersey for 30 years, they only ever had a chance to touch the O’Brien Trophy during the Kidd era... but reality is cruel.

In this game, both teams performed normally, fully displaying the power difference of 17 wins.

In the final quarter, the Bobcats took no chances, starting Jarett Jack, Alan Anderson, Gerald Wallace, Millsap, Perkins, with Rondo and Muhammad as the 7-man rotation off the bench, and outscored the Nets 24 to 27.

Kidd’s streak of triple-doubles broke as he only scored 11 points, grabbed 12 rebounds, and gave 7 assists. The Nets’ offense also faltered...

to 87, the Bobcats defeated the Nets by 20 points, reclaiming the home-court advantage, leading the series 2 to 1!

...

Sticking to their established strategy, not getting flustered and making rash adjustments even as the opposing team’s top two scorers and three shooters exploded, they successfully reclaimed the home-court advantage... After the game, Zhang Yang felt the team’s morale was even higher than after G1.

He also felt more confident than after G1.

For the Nets to win against them, they needed a burst of performance, but for them to win against the Nets, with sufficient preparation time and continuous battles, they needed to overpower them squarely with sheer strength.

In the post-game interview, Zhang Yang typically praised his teammates.

A reporter from the imperial court praised him on camera after the interview, saying, "Every time Zhang Yang loses a game, he says it’s because he didn’t make his shots which caused the loss, but after a win, he always credits his teammates..."

After completing the interview, Zhang Yang returned to the locker room for a shower, and just as he was about to go for physiotherapy, the boss called him into the rest room.

"Jack, come over and look at the news, it’s shameless..."

Zhang Yang approached the computer, saw the content of the news, and joined in the complaints.

Just yesterday all major media were saying that the Bobcats would be upset in the first round, but an hour after tonight’s game ended, the media changed their tune, claiming the Bobcats would advance to the second round with a 4 to 1 victory.

They also said that the Nets’ G2 victory was the last playoff win in the Kidd era, predicting that the Nets wouldn’t reach the playoffs next season... Zhang Yang kind of admired the media’s ’change of perspective,’ truly, after this season, until they moved away from Rutherford Town, the Nets never made the playoffs again, and unsurprisingly, Kidd was likely to leave too.

Complaints aside, Zhang Yang wasn’t surprised by the media’s weathercock style of reporting. Without making the news a bit extreme, where would the traffic and newspaper sales come from.

But when he saw the comment section... Zhang Yang smirked, "There sure are a lot of Nets fans, I can’t even see our fans’ comments."

Felton took a look, surprised, "The comment section supports Kidd, supports the Nets! I hadn’t noticed that before!"

Standing next to the boss, Big Brother came into the rest room with Rondo taking a look... Rondo whispered, "Boss, I don’t know if you’re being sarcastic or you really think so."

In his heart, Rondo saw Felton as the boss, a status within their small group; he saw Zhang Yang as the third brother, based on the internal strength ranking of the team, viewing Okafor as the teammate with the strongest overall ability, Gerald Wallace second, and Zhang Yang third.

Zhang Yang continued to complain, "30 years, Nets old fans... they really have it tough, at such an age having to learn how to go online, if only they knew how to change their IP?"

"IP?" Felton looked again, his mouth twitching; the comments’ IPs were mostly from Ohio.

He scrolled through more pages and still saw some comments with New Jersey IPs, mostly nostalgic about ’the end of the Kidd era.’

Seeing that the boss finally got the meaning of Jack and Big Brother, Coach Rondo felt a lot more relieved; the boss was not very smart, but not stupid.

Then he heard Felton ask, "Jack, can you really change the IP in the comments?"

Zhang Yang responded, "Of course, it’s quite easy."

Felton said, "Teach me... cough, I have a friend who likes to defend me online, but he doesn’t want to reveal where he’s from."

Zhang Yang said, "Oh, sure, you see, do it like this, like that..."

Rondo: ???

Wait, how did the topic jump so far?

Well, that aside, Big Brother, didn’t you realize you are making up friends out of nowhere?

After showing Felton how to change the displayed IP, Zhang Yang followed to get physiotherapy, and Felton and Rondo went along as well.

Rondo was originally indifferent to physiotherapy, but seeing the younger third brother doing it, he decided to follow, setting a small goal for himself—to retire later than third brother.

The goal wasn’t necessary to achieve, but the third brother once said, setting high goals is what keeps you continuously motivated!

...

The next day, April 27th, a resting day; Bickerstaff had not scheduled any training, saving energy as the approach to the game was already very clear. After 3 games in the past 6 days, taking a day off was crucial.

At noon, the league announced three awards.

Leandro Barbosa from the Suns, with an average of 18 points, 2.7 rebounds, and 4 assists per game, defeated Ginobili with 16.5 points, 4 rebounds, and 3.5 assists per game, and Stackhouse with 12 points, 2 rebounds, and 2 assists per game, to be named the best sixth man.

Ellis, raising his score from an average of 6.6 points in his rookie year to 16.5, defeated Zhang Yang, Kevin Martin, and Deron, to be named the most improved player.